While your website may explain your services well, does the language used reflect what your potential customers are searching for? A business may advertise ‘digital growth solutions’, but its audience may be searching for ‘SEO services’ or ‘Google Ads management’.
Effective keyword research enables a business to meet its offerings and the needs of its potential customers. It includes understanding what customers search for, why they do so and which phrases belong on particular pages. Businesses aim to attract visitors who are looking for what they offer.
Why Keyword Research Matters
Different searches represent different needs. Searching for ‘what is social media marketing’, for example, is likely to bring different results from ‘social media marketing agency for restaurants’.
Both searches relate to a similar topic, but they require different types of content.
A well planned service page targets visitors who are researching a particular offering, and its keywords must provide information about what is on offer, who it is for and how someone can take the next step.
Choosing the right terms can also give content a clear focus. Rather than having to cover several areas, you can centre a page around a service and the questions that customers are asking before they inquire.
Start with Your Services and Customers
Before opening a keyword tool, list what your business offers and how customers can describe this.
List Your Core Services and Specialisations
Begin with your core offerings and add details about your audience, specialisations and locations.
A digital marketing agency, for example, may have the following:
- SEO services for businesses.
- Google Ads campaign management.
- Social media content creation.
- Website design for small businesses.
- Product photography for ecommerce brands.
These are merely the start of your research. Each phrase still requires validation to understand the relevance, intent and demand.
Listen to What Your Customers Say
Enquiries, consultation calls and sales conversations can be a rich source of information.
Customers may ask ‘can you help my business appear on Google’, for example, or ‘do you manage Instagram ads’. This demonstrates how people will describe their needs without using the industry jargon they may expect. Use what they say as inspiration for your phrases, while being careful not to assume that customers have the same understanding as you and your team.
Understand Search Intent Before Selecting Keywords
| Search query | Likely intent | Suitable content |
|---|---|---|
| What is SEO? | Understand a topic | Educational blog |
| How to improve website rankings | Learn a process | Practical guide |
| SEO agency for small businesses | Compare providers | Relevant service page |
| SEO consultation pricing | Evaluate cost and options | Pricing or consultation information |
Consider the Search Results
For each of your shortlisted terms, conduct a search and review the results that appear. Are these mostly guides, agency websites, directories or product pages? If a search is dominated by educational content, for example, a sales focused page may be challenging to fit into the top results. If providers dominate a search, investigate what information they are providing, and think about your customers’ needs in relation to this.
Use these observations as inspiration for your content, rather than replicating competitors’ offerings.
Use Google Keyword Planner to Expand Your List
Google Keyword Planner is an essential resource, and you should use it to find related terms and review search volumes. Try putting a couple of service related words in the tool and selecting the location and language for your target customers.
Review the suggestions with care, removing anything that is irrelevant to your services, locations and audiences.
Understand What the Metrics Say
Search volumes represent the approximate level of interest, but they do not indicate a searcher’s likelihood to choose your service.
Similarly, the competition metric reflects advertiser competition and should not be seen as an indicator of how challenging it is to rank organically. Bid estimates are also a useful comparison, but they do not demonstrate that a particular keyword will bring enquiries.
Use the information to narrow your options. Once you have a list of terms, evaluate the search results.
Evaluate Your Options with Keyword Analysis Tools
Keyword analysis tools can be useful for evaluating shortlisted terms by comparing them to competitors, reviewing related searches and investigating further. Your interpretation of results is more important than the tool’s suggestions, as you know your business better than any software.
Apply the following questions to each search term you are considering:
- Relevance: Does the search term relate to a service you provide?
- Intent: Does your content match what the searcher wants?
- Demand: Is there evidence that people search for this term?
- Competition: Can you create a useful, credible page that competes with existing results?
Look Beyond Broad Terms
A phrase such as ‘marketing’ can relate to a wide range of needs. “Email marketing services for ecommerce” describes a narrower audience and offering.
A specific search may have a lower volume, for example, but could be more relevant to your needs. Similarly, adding a location to a search phrase will often narrow the volume, but it could relate to your target audience. A keyword analysis tool can help to investigate the differences, but it is important not to have separate pages that cater to the same need with slightly different wording.
Choose a Primary Term for Your Service Pages
Select one keyword to represent the primary aim of a page, and then plan related terms to support it.
If you have a page about Google Ads management, for example, you could also discuss campaign optimisation, PPC management and conversion tracking if your services include these.
A keyword tool can help you to review variations of a phrase, but you are unlikely to need to list every option.
Create a simple keyword map before you begin writing:
| Offering | Main keyword example | Supporting topics |
|---|---|---|
| SEO | SEO services | Website audits, on-page optimisation, local visibility |
| Website design | Website design services | Mobile layouts, navigation, enquiry forms |
| Google Ads management | Google Ads management services | Campaign setup, bidding, conversion tracking |
| Social media marketing | Social media marketing services | Content planning, community management, reporting |
These are examples. Validate each keyword against your offerings and target market.
Place Your Keywords Throughout the Page
Once you have chosen your keywords, place them within your content where they make sense.
As a rule of thumb, include your primary keyword in the tag, heading and opening paragraph, while supporting terms can be placed in subheadings, description and answering questions.
Your pages should also explain:
- What the service includes.
- Who it is suitable for.
- How the process works.
- What customers need to provide.
- What factors affect pricing or timelines.
How to request a consultation or quote.
Write a meta description that summarises the offering and gives visitors a reason to visit. Use descriptive links internally and write text for your images that describes what they show. Avoid adding keywords throughout the content, as Google has guidelines about ‘keyword stuffing‘ and prioritises readability.
Avoid Common Keyword Selection Mistakes
Choosing Volume Over Relevance
A seemingly popular phrase is not valuable if it attracts people looking for something that you cannot provide. Evaluate its relevance to your offerings before taking volume into account.
Copying Competitors Without Understanding Their Audiences
A competitor may target vastly different industries, budgets or locations. Their choice of phrases can be a useful starting point, but it should not dictate your own options.
Creating Multiple Pages for Minor Differences
Having separate pages for slight variations can lead to repetitive content. Group terms where the intent is similar, or create a page for a particular offering if the audiences and offerings are significantly different.
Treating Estimates as Exact Figures
Different tools will provide subtly different volume and difficulty estimates. Treat these as a comparison rather than predicting traffic or revenue.
Track Performance and Refine Your Choices
Publishing your pages is an important step, and you should review which searches drive visibility and what actions visitors take.
By using Google Search Console, investigate the impressions, clicks and click-through rate figures, and connect organic visits to enquiries where possible. If your pages are attracting irrelevant searches, revisit the language and focus. Similarly, if visitors are not enquiring, look at the offer, information, usability and call-to-action alongside the keywords. Use a keyword analysis tool periodically to review potential updates, rather than making changes in response to minor fluctuations.
Turn Keyword Research into a Clear Content Plan
The right keywords speak for your business and its offerings to a particular audience. Begin by choosing terms that describe what your business does, and what your customers need. Investigate their intent and relevance, and select a phrase to represent each page. Each search should have a purpose, and your content should aim to meet it.
Aivolv helps businesses to align SEO planning with useful content and digital strategy. Contact Aivolv to discuss a targeted keyword and content plan for your services.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Many Keywords Should a Service Page Target?
Choose one main topic and include relevant supporting phrases naturally. There is no magic number of keywords to include to improve your rankings. The page should provide information about your offering without being repetitive or describing other services.
